Charge Pumping Through a Single Donor Atom

Presented in this paper is a proof-of-concept for a new approach to single electron pumping based on a Single Atom Transistor (SAT). By charge pumping electrons through an isolated dopant atom in silicon, precise currents of up to 160 pA at 1 GHz are generated, even if operating at 4.2 K, with no magnetic field applied, and only when one barrier is addressed by sinusoidal voltage cycles.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, few changes in the text and in figure 8, New J. Phys. (2014) at pres

Interface Trap Density Metrology of state-of-the-art undoped Si n-FinFETs

The presence of interface states at the MOS interface is a well-known cause of device degradation. This is particularly true for ultra-scaled FinFET geometries where the presence of a few traps can strongly influence device behavior. Typical methods for interface trap density (Dit) measurements are not performed on ultimate devices, but on custom designed structures. We present the first set of methods that allow direct estimation of Dit in state-of-the-art FinFETs, addressing a critical industry need.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, *G.C.T. and A.P. contributed equally to this wor

Dopant metrology in advanced FinFETs

Ultra-scaled FinFET transistors bear unique fingerprint-like device-to-device differences attributed to random single impurities. This paper describes how, through correlation of experimental data with multimillion atom tight-binding simulations using the NEMO 3-D code, it is possible to identify the impurity's chemical species and determine their concentration, local electric field and depth below the Si/SiO$_{\mathrm{2}}$ interface. The ability to model the excited states rather than just the ground state is the critical component of the analysis and allows the demonstration of a new approach to atomistic impurity metrology.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Magnetic Field Probing of an SU(4) Kondo Resonance in a Single Atom Transistor

Semiconductor nano-devices have been scaled to the level that transport can be dominated by a single dopant atom. In the strong coupling case a Kondo effect is observed when one electron is bound to the atom. Here, we report on the spin as well as orbital Kondo ground state. We experimentally as well than theoretically show how we can tune a symmetry transition from a SU(4) ground state, a many body state that forms a spin as well as orbital singlet by virtual exchange with the leads, to a pure SU(2) orbital ground state, as a function of magnetic field. The small size and the s-like orbital symmetry of the ground state of the dopant, make it a model system in which the magnetic field only couples to the spin degree of freedom and allows for observation of this SU(4) to SU(2) transition.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Lifetime enhanced transport in silicon due to spin and valley blockade

We report the observation of Lifetime Enhanced Transport (LET) based on perpendicular valleys in silicon by transport spectroscopy measurements of a two-electron system in a silicon transistor. The LET is manifested as a peculiar current step in the stability diagram due to a forbidden transition between an excited state and any of the lower energy states due perpendicular valley (and spin) configurations, offering an additional current path. By employing a detailed temperature dependence study in combination with a rate equation model, we estimate the lifetime of this particular state to exceed 48 ns. The two-electron spin-valley configurations of all relevant confined quantum states in our device were obtained by a large-scale atomistic tight-binding simulation. The LET acts as a signature of the complicated valley physics in silicon; a feature that becomes increasingly important in silicon quantum devices.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. (The current version (v3) is the result of splitting up the previous version (v2), and has been completely rewritten

Studying Parallel Evolutionary Algorithms: The cellular Programming Case

Parallel evolutionary algorithms, studied to some extent over the past few years, have proven empirically worthwhile—though there seems to be lacking a better understanding of their workings. In this paper we concentrate on cellular (fine-grained) models, presenting a number of statistical measures, both at the genotypic and phenotypic levels. We demonstrate the application and utility of these measures on a specific example, that of the cellular programming evolutionary algorithm, when used to evolve solutions to a hard problem in the cellular-automata domain, known as synchronization

Comment: Superconducting transition in Nb nanowires fabricated using focused ion beam

In a recent paper Tettamanzi et al (2009 Nanotechnology \bf{20} 465302) describe the fabrication of superconducting Nb nanowires using a focused ion beam. They interpret their conductivity data in the framework of thermal and quantum phase slips below $T_c$. In the following we will argue that their analysis is inappropriate and incomplete, leading to contradictory results. Instead, we propose an interpretation of the data within a SN proximity model.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure accepted in Nanotechnolog

A planar Al-Si Schottky Barrier MOSFET operated at cryogenic temperatures

Schottky Barrier (SB)-MOSFET technology offers intriguing possibilities for cryogenic nano-scale devices, such as Si quantum devices and superconducting devices. We present experimental results on a novel device architecture where the gate electrode is self-aligned with the device channel and overlaps the source and drain electrodes. This facilitates a sub-5 nm gap between the source/drain and channel, and no spacers are required. At cryogenic temperatures, such devices function as p-MOS Tunnel FETs, as determined by the Schottky barrier at the Al-Si interface, and as a further advantage, fabrication processes are compatible with both CMOS and superconducting logic technology.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, minor changes from the previous version

A hybrid double-dot in silicon

We report electrical measurements of a single arsenic dopant atom in the tunnel-barrier of a silicon SET. As well as performing electrical characterization of the individual dopant, we study series electrical transport through the dopant and SET. We measure the triple points of this hybrid double dot, using simulations to support our results, and show that we can tune the electrostatic coupling between the two sub-systems.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure